Drifting
by cutiepie5514
Summary: Ran has been very wary of Shinichi as of late. She's been noticing some things... she's been noticing that he's been drifting away from her, and everyone else for that matter. With Shinichi's strange behavior rousing a curiosity in her, she decides to take a stand and try to get to the bottom of this mess. But... what exactly is the bottom of this mess? Oneshot! Pre-Conan-shrink!


**So… um… yeah. This is a pre-Conan-shrink oneshot. It's a bit Crack!-ish and OOC, but you know... oops? :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan… obviously. I'm not Gosho or anything…**

Ran was broken up. She didn't know what to do anymore. Shinichi was drifting farther and farther away from her and she had no idea what she could do.

She had tried everything- and that means _everything_.

She had gone to her dad one night with her concerns, but he held nothing wise for her. She had figured out that he was quite drunk once he uttered the words 'Shinichi' and 'very nice boy' in the same sentence. Ran was desperate, but a drunk Mouri Kogoro was never a help to anyone.

Next she had taken her troubles to her mother. The advice she had gotten from her mom wasn't much better. The only improvement Ran could note was the fact that the words were actually intelligible. Her mom had told Ran that she should take the legal approach, meaning be very upfront and yell at him until he spilled his problem out to her. Naturally, though, Ran had reservations about shoving her best friend up against a wall and yelling at him.

Sonoko had been her next source of potential help. That one didn't last long, though, because Ran had begun to snap at how many times Sonoko referred to this as a 'lover's spat' in one sentence. (The highest number of times was 17, to be exact.)

Her list of 'helpful' people abruptly ended there, and she began to wonder for the first time if she needed more friends. Normally she'd pass it off with a thought such as, _Nah, I've got Shinichi._ But the thing was, she wasn't quite sure she even _had_ Shinichi anymore.

That was what had caused her entire panic in the first place, of course. Shinichi. He had stopped almost all means of communication with her, and she was scared. When she called, she always received his voicemail. When she texted, a response hardly ever came.

The only time she did get to see her beloved childhood friend was at school, but when they were there, he wasn't himself. He'd always come to school disheveled and tired-looking, with bags under his eyes. This was his normal appearance if he spent all night pondering a case, but for almost two months straight? It was unnerving for Ran.

Only when he started home did Shinichi ever get animated. He mumbled phrases while walking with Ran, phrases he most likely believed Ran couldn't hear at all. The common phrases were, _I can't wait, _or _Love it so much,_ both of which were often stated with a grin and loving tint to his eyes.

So, yes, Ran was broken up over this. She wasn't _jealous_ of what made him happy or anything, but just afraid that her friend was drifting away. Often times, she wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he returned to his old self or at least told her what was up. She had half a mind to take Eri's idea and threaten him with terrible, unintelligible legal jargon.

But she didn't. She didn't do anything but watch from the sidelines, as Shinichi's –_a detective genius's_ – grades dropped and he seemed more and more tired each day. No one else seemed to notice the change but Ran, and it frustrated her. Couldn't they see it?

That's why Ran decided to take action. She had feigned sick halfway through the school day, so Shinichi would have to walk alone. She followed him home in true stalker style, hiding behind bushes and things as she had always seen in movies.

She stopped only in front of Shinichi's front gates. He had left them open – another uncomfortable sign, seeing as he always made it a point to shut and lock them. Should she follow him in? A part of her said it was an invasion of privacy, that she should just trust her friend. Another part of her said she needed to get to the bottom of this, and that this could only help him. She decided to side with the latter part.

She crept into the house silently, hoping that she was sneakier than she believed she was. She heard loud noises coming from what she knew was the living room. This scared her more than everything else. What in the world could Shinichi be _doing_?

As she peered around the corner, Ran was met with a sight that shocked her. Had she not prepared herself beforehand for a gruesome sight, she would've fainted upon sight of such a thing.

In the middle of the room was Shinichi, sweating in concentration and holding the Wii remote in his right hand. Ran stared in horror at the screen and saw the flashing letters spelling out, 'Just Dance 3'.

Shinichi swayed back and forth to the beat as he attempted to dance. It shocked Ran so much, how could he be even _worse_ at dancing than singing? It was unbearable to take any longer.

"Stop!" She yelled, bursting into the room. Shinichi spun around in horror, and sighed in relief when he realizes it's only Ran.

"Ran…" He breathed out, for that was all he could say in between his panted breaths.

She stared at his recovering form. "What are you doing?" She screeched at him.

He sighed before collapsing on the floor. "Agasa-hakase… he gave me the game a few months ago… it was so addicting… played it into the night… couldn't stop." He explained between breaths.

"Baka!" Ran exclaimed. "Why would you keep playing?"

"You don't understand…" He said solemnly, shaking his head. She scoffed at him, snatching the remote and picking out a song.

"Don't." He said, horrified. "You'll get roped in… don't do it, Ran."

She turned to him and glared before beginning to play.

The next day at school, no one was surprised to see a worn out Shinichi arriving ten minutes late. What shocked them most was Mouri Ran, who dragged herself in behind him and nearly collapsed at her desk.

It wouldn't be long before Sonoko realized Ran was drifting, and the cycle would continue.

**Well, that was… odd. I have no idea why I wrote that, but there you go!**

**-cutiepie5514**


End file.
